


A Decade Late

by fumomoshi



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 08:50:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14787320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumomoshi/pseuds/fumomoshi
Summary: An attempt at Time Travel AU.Future Sui somehow travels back to the past and meets younger version of his hushand Karu.





	A Decade Late

Sui hobbles towards a bench. His head spins as an uncomfortable feeling builds up in his chest. It has been some time since he wanted to puke this badly. Not even the wildest roller coasters rides with Karu made him feel this queasy. 

_ I’m getting old.  _ Sui slumps onto the bench as he tries to assess what just happened. A moment ago, he was with Karu, Rudo and Rako, watching the revelation of a supposedly groundbreaking technology at one of Rudo’s acquaintance's house. He remembers the machine whirring to life, and…

He doesn’t recall anything after that. Everything spinned into a whirl of white, and suddenly he’s outside in an empty streets. 

_ Where am I?  _

Sui looks around. The pattern of the streets and buildings seems familiar.  _ Very familiar.  _ It is as if he had not been here for a long time yet, at the same time, it also feels like he had lived here since forever. 

_Osaka. I’m in Osaka._ Sui is sure of it. He is certain that he had encountered this street several times before ever since he moved in. He examines the street by the roadside: the buildings, the stores and the roads. He recognizes the location of the signposts and the traffic lights, which part of the road pedestrians can cross, and Karu’s favourite eatery across the road. 

Only that that eatery shouldn’t exist anymore.

Sui pauses, confused.  _ The eatery shouldn’t exist _ , but right cross the road it stands, all its banners and flags flying, open for business. He scans the street once more. He recognizes everything indeed, but also things that should’ve changed. There should’ve been the new pedestrian crossing just down the road. The bank nearby should’ve had it’s name changed years ago. The large old building behind him should’ve been reconstructed, but it stands rickety and old, the paint job fading.

_ This building was reconstructed… _

He feels a tug in his chest. As he feared, he had travelled back in time.  _ Or someone had recreated the street in the perfect image of ten years ago,  _ which sounds more far-fetched than time travel. 

But how far back did he travel? He stares at the old building and starts counting the years that should’ve passed. As his count goes higher and higher, his head spins faster and faster. Turning the building operational must’ve taken at least a year, construction probably several and deconstruction a few more. 

Sui places a palm on his face and stares into the distance. He had gone  _ way  _ back.  _ Alone.  _ He grimaces at the thought. Maybe the rest had travelled back with him too. 

“Ji-san? Are you okay?”

Sui’s chest tightens. It is a voice he knows all too well, a voice that he wants to hear now more than ever. He turns, daring to hope that the owner of the voice is the person he wants to see.

Sui gasps softly. Nothing could have prepared him for what he is seeing. Before him stands the charming, spunky, energetic man he had fallen in love with several years ago. His hair clipped at the front, a ponytail tied at the back, wearing a smile that brightens the world.  _ The smile that brightened my world for a decade.  _

“Karu.” Sui starts.

The man tilts his head. “Ji-san, do I know you?” he asks. 

“Karu,” Sui tries to fight back his tears, shuddering. He feels lost and afraid. He had lived with Karu for so long that he had forgotten how to live without him. The last thing he wants is Karu not recognizing him. “Karu, it’s me, Sui!” 

Karu frowns and looks hard at Sui. He takes a step towards Sui slowly examines his face. With Karu up close, Sui notices that Karu’s wrinkles on his face are all gone, almost as if Karu had became younger. 

_ This is the younger Karu. I have really gone back in time. _ Sui reminds himself. He flinches. Seeing Karu this young makes it feels like the time when they were only a year into their relationship, all over again. Nostalgia begins to overwhelm him as he starts thinking about all the years he and Karu went through.  _ It has really been a long time _ , _ huh. _

“Sui?” Karu blinks. “You really are Sui. But, what happened? Your hair is a bit white and your face is...old. And you are supposed to be back at Nagano with Aniki.”

_ Back with Rudo? _ Sui staggers at the thought. He had gone further than he initially counted.  _ Almost a decade. Maybe even a decade.  _  “I’m not sure myself,” Sui says, scratching his head. “But I think I came from the future.”

“The future!” Karu’s eyes brighten excitedly. Sui gives a nervous smile. It never fails to amuse him that Karu always get excited first and think later. Even after ten years. “So what is it like in the future?”

"I guess things are better?" Sui isn’t sure how to answer. He had not put much thought about the improvements that happened over the past. "It used to be difficult to get to places from our house,” he tries to recall. “But that improved over time with more public buses added passing by."

Karu’s voice drops. " _ Our  _ house?" 

_ Ah.  _ Sui’s eyes dart away. It just hit him that this Karu doesn’t know anything about the future of their relationship. And awkward atmosphere hangs in the air.  _ It’s fine for him to know right?  _ Sui asks himself but he honestly isn’t sure. 

"So you did move in with me in the end," Karu mutters, a sheepish smile forming on his face. Sui is surprised at his expression. He never knew Karu was this adamant in wanting him to move in with him back then when Sui was looking for a place to stay after graduating. 

_ Karu loved me this much back then?  _ Sui feels his heart ache. It feels as if he had done a terrible thing to Karu when he rejected his offer and decided to stay with Rudo instead. 

“I’m sorry,” Sui mutters. 

“Hmm? What for?” 

“For not...realizing your feelings for me then,” Sui explains. “I didn’t know. Or maybe I did but I convinced myself that it wasn’t the case so I probably shrugged it off and decided to focus on my career.”

“Ahaha.” Karu laughs, a hint of sadness apparent in his voice. “I don’t blame you, I never made it clear either. Besides, career is important too.” His voice trails off. 

“Karu…I didn’t know.”

Karu laughs again. “Ahaha, the future me never told you?” He glances away. “Well, that’s not surprising. It doesn’t sound like something you would ever ask, and something that I would ever reveal. Besides, I don’t want you to feel bad about it.”

Sui grits his teeth. It is only later in the relationship when Sui realizes how much Karu cares, to the point of protecting his feelings. And young Karu is right, he  _ is _ feeling bad right now.  _ Even ten years ago, you know and cared so much.  _ Sui wants to laugh at how blind he was. 

“Sui - I mean - future Sui...Ji-san? This is going to sound strange and selfish but can I ask...for a hug?” Karu asks, his voice low. 

Sui opens his arms. Karu buries himself into them, rubbing his face onto his shoulder. 

“Mmm.”

“Karu, I’m really sorry,” Sui sighs. 

“It’s okay,” Karu whispers. “Sui smells nice.”

Sui blushes. It is something Karu always says whenever they hug, something he can never get used to. He wants to return home, and apologize to the Karu he knows.  _ If I can ever get home.  _ What if he has to live here for the rest of his life? The thought frightens him.

“Sui,” Karu breaks the silence. ”I have a strange question but, you didn’t like...aniki right?”

“What?” 

“I thought you liked Aniki, that’s why you decided to live with him,” Karu explains. “I kept telling myself that you are just rooming with him for convenient to shrug the thought off but the thought of you guys seeing each other everyday, every night continues to haunt me.” Karu tilts his head towards Sui. “Even if you don’t like Aniki, what if you guys end up liking each other?”

Sui chuckles and gives a rub on Karu’s head. “Don’t be silly. Sui only loves Karu, and there wasn’t a day he isn’t thinking of you.”

“Sui…” Karu chokes. “Thank you.”

Sui continues rubbing Karu’s head. It has always been the way they hug, with Karu’s head on his shoulder and him petting on Karu’s head. Sui sighs.  _ I really need to go home.  _ As much as he likes seeing young Karu again, it makes him want to see the Karu in his timeline again.

Karu stirs. “Sui...”

_ Hmm? _ Karu’s voice feels distant and far. Sui looks around. His surroundings starts to blur, as if his consciousness is being pulled away from him. He feels himself falling slowly as a strange irresistible force pulls him backwards towards the ground. 

“Karu…?” Sui tries to speak but even his voice sounds distant. His senses slowly leaves him, and his sight fading to darkness. It is a strange feeling. He could not hear or see anything, but his mind is still awake, as if in limbo. 

“Sui!!” 

Sui feels a sting on his face. 

“Sui!!!”

Sui feels another sting. This time, he felt every bit of pain spreading across his face.  _ Oi, stop! It hurts!  _ His mind screams.

“Sui!”

“Karu! Stop!” Sui’s eyes fly wide open and pushes himself up to a sitting position. He gasps at the sudden change of air, his head spinning.  _ Not again. _ Dizzy, Sui closes his eyes and rests his head onto a hand as he fights his body’s threat to puke.

“I’ll go get some water.” Sui can hear Rudo say.  _ Rudo?  _ Sui opens his eyes. He is now in a room, the room he was in before all that weird time-travel thing happened.  _ Am I back? _

“Sui!” Sui feels a familiar weight falling onto him, a familiar face burying into his shoulders. He looks down and sees Karu,  _ his  _ Karu and, instinctively, he places his hand on his head, petting him. 

_ Like always.  _

“Karu, what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Karu says, his voice panicky _.  _ “I mean I know but I don’t understand. After the thing zapped you, you started flashing weird and then Rudo started scolding his friend and then they said some things I don’t really understand but somehow they fixed it and zapped you back and then…”

Sui can’t fully absorb Karu’s descriptions. He brushes his hand on Karu’s head, trying to calm him down. “There, there. I’m back. It’s okay now.”

Sui hears Karu sniffle in his shoulder. “Sui, I missed you.”

“I was only gone for an hour,” Sui says, glancing at his watch.  _ And ten years. _

“An hour too long,” Karu mumbles.

A moment of silence goes by as Sui ponders if he should mention about what he encountered in his time-travel journey.  _ It’s so long ago though. I wonder if Karu even remembers.  _ He looks down at Karu who is still sniffling at his shoulder and gives a defeated look.  _ He definitely remembers.  _

“Karu,” Sui starts. “I’m sorry.”

“Hmm? What for?” 

_ Deja vu.  _

“Remember 10 years ago? When you asked me to move in with you but I chose to move in with Rudo instead?” Sui tries to explain. “I’m sorry that...Er...I didn’t choose to move in with you.”

Karu looks up to face Sui. “Ahaha! Sui, that’s  _ ages _ ago! Why are you bringing it up now?” He chuckles. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not entire your fault. Plus. we are together now, aren’t we? So what does it matter?”

_ Right, we are together now.  _ It  _ had been  _ ten years ago, but because of his journey to the past, it feels like it was only yesterday. Sui feels slightly embarrassed that he brought it up. He was worried that Karu would be hung up over it but it seems that he had gotten over it.

Karu buries his face back into Sui’s shoulders. 

“Thanks, though.”

Sui smiles.  _ What an idiot. _


End file.
